Floating Through France

A practical and captivating guide to taking your boat through the French canals to the fabulous cruising grounds of the Mediterranean. The inland waterway route to the Mediterranean has long been popular, and for good reason: rather than loading your boat onto a lorry or crossing the Bay of Biscay, why not choose the far more enticing option of crossing the Channel and motoring through some of the most iconic parts of France, popping out the other side? Illustrated with photos, sketches and beautiful watercolour chartlets, Floating Through France recounts the author's experiences doing just that, with advice and useful tips woven throughout. The book is divided into sections covering: - The dream: choosing a boat, preparations, budgeting and route planning - Home Waters: Irish Sea, Bristol Channel, Cornwall and the South Coast, the English Channel and Northern France - Inland Waterways: mast unstepping, dealing with locks, Tidal Seine and Paris, Marne-Champagne, Saone and Rhone to Port Napoleon and mast restepping - Sailing the Med: Southern France and Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Straits of Messina, Southern Italy to Greece - The debrief: summary of lessons learned, sources of information and notes on bureaucracy[MC1] This book is not only a guide to help others follow in their footsteps, it's also an entertaining tale of mistakes made, knots that untie themselves, and Camargue mosquitos that can bite through jeans.